NRA spokeswoman attacks media over shootings: 'You love the ratings'

A National Rifle Association spokeswoman attacked the media’s coverage of last week’s Florida high school shooting and criticized law enforcement Thursday, saying critics are trying to “gaslight” gun supporters into taking responsibility for the tragedy.

It was a shift from Dana Loesch’s posture during a CNN town hall the night before, when she told a Parkland, Florida, student she admired her advocacy for gun control and emphasized that the man who police say killed 17 people should “never have been able to get a firearm.”

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While speaking on Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, her tone was aggressive, particularly as she went after the media.

"Many in legacy media love mass shootings. You guys love it," Loesch said. "Now, I'm not saying that you love the tragedy. But I am saying that you love the ratings. Crying white mothers are ratings gold to you and many in the legacy media."

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She said law enforcement "dropped the ball" ahead of the high school shooting and claimed that during the CNN town hall she asked the toughest questions of the sheriff from the Florida county where the shooting occurred.

The FBI acknowledged last week that some “protocols were not followed” after receiving a tip about Nikolas Cruz, who police believe was behind the Florida attack.

“Maybe if you politicized your agency less and did your job more we wouldn’t have these problems,” she said of the FBI.

“The government has proven that they cannot keep you safe, and yet some people want all of us to disarm,” Loesch said. “And then they also call Trump a tyrant, but then say they want the president to also confiscate our firearms. Try to figure that one out.”

During the town hall a night earlier, Loesch asked pointed questions of Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. She criticized lawmakers for not talking enough about bolstering background check records and said it was up to schools and parents to decide how to protect students, after President Donald Trump floated arming some teachers.

But she also said she applauded Emma Gonzalez, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who has become a gun control advocate, for speaking out, and she said that, as a parent, hearing the stories of loss "terrifies me, to be honest with you."

"It's terrifying," Loesch said Wednesday evening. "I think that all life should be protected. All life should be protected. That's why next week, there's going to be good guys with guns that are going to be in school protecting lives, just as there's armed security here."

On Thursday, speaking before a sympathetic audience of conservatives, she seemed tired of the criticism.

“We will not be gaslighted into thinking that we’re responsible for a tragedy that we had nothing to do with,” Loesch said to applause. “It is not our job to follow up on red flags. It is not our job to make sure that states are reporting to the background check system. It is not our job.”